


Good Things Come

by whichstiel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Blizzards, Gen, SPN Holiday Mixtape, Sisterly bond - Freeform, Sleepover!, Snow, Wayward Daughters, coming home for Christmas, east coast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 03:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8873740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whichstiel/pseuds/whichstiel
Summary: Claire shows up on Alex’s doorstep the week before Christmas with one goal: to convince Alex to come home for the holidays.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the [SPN Holiday Mixtape](http://holidaymixtape.tumblr.com/) challenge. _[Valley Winter Song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctu406Wa2Ik)_ , by Fountains of Wayne, is the inspiration for this story. 
> 
> It’s not a typical holiday song, but it’s one of my favorite Christmas playlist songs. I’ve always viewed this song as a great portrayal of seasonal depression alleviated somewhat by the warm presence of family or friends - a little sorrow, a little contentment. Since the first line begins with, “Hey, sweet Annie,” I knew I had to write a story about Alex.

Alex stood in the hallway of her apartment, back pressed against the wall. She stared at the peeling paint on the baseboard, laid on so thick over the years that as it peeled back she could see sedimentary layers of color exposed. "You sure you're okay?" she asked Claire. 

In the bathroom, Claire grunted. "Peachy." 

"Need my help?"

"Nope."

Dropping her chin to her chest, Alex closed her eyes and concentrated on taking small, even breaths. After all these years, the sight of blood still brought on a confusing tangle of horror and happiness - and with that last, a sour thread of guilt. Staying in the hallway while Claire patched up her latest wounds was her way of offering support while minimizing her own likelihood of losing her latest meal. Her mouth watered distressingly. She could smell the sharp, copper tang of blood rising with the steam whenever Claire ran the hot water. 

"Are any of your friends gonna stop by?" Claire's voice sounded tight. Alex pictured stitches, thought about offering to help, and stayed where she was.

"Tanisha's at home for winter break. Katie's busy."

“Katie. Weren’t you guys supposed to live together? Whatever happened to that plan?”

“Yeah. Didn’t work out. She wanted to move in with her boyfriend.”

"Leaving you alone. That’s shitty.” 

“Eh, this place had an opening. It’s fine.”  _ And better in the long run. _

The water ran again. ”Quiet Friday for you, then."

"Yeah. Pretty quiet. But, you know, I've got work and stuff so..."

"Right." Claire's voice echoed flatly from the small bathroom. "Work."

"So. What did the- What was it this time?"

"Shifter."

Alex sucked her breath between her teeth in sympathy. "Sorry."

"That's the job." Water ran and then there was the sound of crumpling paper. "You can come in now."

Alex entered to find Claire dumping bandage wrappings in the trash can. The smell of blood still lingered, layered over the apple scent of her shampoo, but Claire had done a good job of cleaning up. The sink was spotless. Claire grimaced and flexed her fingers before sweeping up the contents of her first aid kit and dumping them back into the bag lying open on the counter. The angry gash on her arm was now closed by a few neatly set butterfly bandages. Bruises decorated her skin in deep red blotches that would likely turn purple by morning. Claire saw her stare and grinned. "Been cut up worse."

Alex scowled. "Doesn't mean I have to like it. You gonna tell Jody?"

Claire shrugged. "I'd rather not, but it'll probably be hard to miss since I'll be home all this week for Christmas." Her smile faded. "Jody's pretty good at picking up stuff like that." 

Alex picked at a sliver of wood on the doorframe. "You hungry? I think I might stick a pizza in the oven."

"Awesome. I'm starving." Claire looked at her bloodstained shirt and jeans. "Um, I'm just gonna get cleaned up first."

While Claire showered Alex headed to the kitchen. Her apartment was small, narrow, and more hallway than anything else since it took up exactly one quarter of a battered old Victorian house. She fired up the half sized oven and took a pizza out of the freezer. While the oven preheated she leaned against the sink and stared outside. Gray clouds pressed low against the rooftops and the occasional snowflake whirled past the window. A ladybird beetle lazily wandered down the windowsill towards the countertop. “See? I’m not alone. I have roommates,” she muttered as she nudged it away with her finger.

Outside the street was empty. Most of the residents on the block were college students like herself, living in small square apartment buildings or old homes converted to rental housing. With many of them gone for winter holidays it felt a little quiet, but these days she preferred it that way.

By the time Claire got out of the bathroom the smell of cooking pizza filled the apartment. "Oh my god," Claire wailed as she flopped dramatically on the couch next to Alex. "I am so freaking hungry."

“Pizza’s almost done,” Alex said, “but feel free to raid the fridge.” She switched off her phone and nervously flipped it in her hand. "So how'd you get a case on the East Coast anyway? This is kinda outside your usual territory."

Claire shrugged. "Saw it and figured if it turned out to be nothing I'd at least get to visit you."

Alex screwed up her face in a faux-disgusted grimace. "Aww."

Claire stuck out her tongue. "Thanks for putting me up tonight."

"No problem." 

"You know," Claire looked hesitant. "You never, uh, tested me. You getting lax?"

In response Alex held up her hand. A silver ring glinted in the half light from the amber lamps. "Silver on your wrist when I helped you inside," she said and began to fold down fingers. "Devil's trap at the door. Holy water in the Brita pitcher. ‘Cause nothing says refreshing like blessed water. And honestly I'd like to think you'd be a little more emotional if you'd been turned into a vampire or werewolf." 

Claire laughed and held up her hands. "Okay. Good. We - I just wanna make sure you're staying safe out here."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Oh my god, Claire, I'm fine. And I didn't make a big deal out of testing you because." She drew in a deep breath. "Because you know I'm trying to get away from all of that. I mean, it’s a part of my life. I’ll never be normal. I know that. But I don’t have to make it some big production."

"Well there's a difference between getting away from it and being willfully stupid." Claire smiled at Alex's indignant gasp. "Dude. I’m glad you're not, okay? It's all good." 

Alex opened her mouth, searching for what to say, or whether to say anything, but the timer for the pizza went off. She got up and went into the kitchen, tossing Claire’s words around her head.  _ Willfully stupid? _ She didn’t think that choosing to live her life away from monsters should have led Claire to that conclusion. She’d helped fight off vampires one more time before she went to college and while Jody had declared that to be a fluke encounter with some totally random vamps, Alex had felt the shadow of her past casting a pall far into her future. She had to get away or she’d go mad with worry. 

She took out a pizza cutter and began angrily slicing the pizza. Really, how dare Claire barge into her apartment and accuse her of not being careful enough. Claire was the one who showed up bloody. She should be the one buckling under reprimand for  _ her _ dangerous life. Alex slammed the pizza cutter down on the counter hard enough to rattle the blade and splatter sauce on the counter. She inhaled deeply, searching for calm, then slid pieces onto two plates and carried it out into the living room. 

Claire accepted her plate quietly. If she felt self-conscious about mother-henning Alex she didn't show it. Instead she settled back in the couch and dug into her food as Alex turned on the TV. When Claire started to yawn Alex handed over the remote. "You can keep watching if you want. I'm heading to bed." Her head pounded with the strain of being social and the unspoken tension in the room. 

Claire grabbed the remote and sat up, wincing a little as she did so. "Thanks." She switched off the TV. "But I'm definitely toast. I, uh, I'll probably head out early tomorrow. Try and get at least halfway back to Jody's if I can."

Alex nodded. "Wake me up before you take off, okay?" 

Her exit from the room was brought up short when Claire said softly, "You should come back with me, Alex. Jody misses you." 

Slowly, Alex turned and leaned against the wall, arms crossed defensively. "Yeah. I know. I miss her too." She gestured around the quiet room. "Busy, though."

"With work." Claire said flatly. 

"With work," Alex affirmed, nodding sharply. "Maybe next year."

Claire sputtered, though not in surprise. Her lip pulled up in a sudden sneer. "Bullshit." She leveled a category five glare on Alex. "I stopped by your job first," she told Alex. "When I got into town I looked for you at work. But, surprise! The whole friggin' student union is closed for the entire winter break. So you can't be working. So this whole tragic ‘Oh, I can’t come home’ thing is just a fake-out."

Alex rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you tried to find me at work when you were covered in blood."

For a moment Claire appeared off balance. Then she said. "That's not the point and you know it. Alex, you lied to Jody about having to work all vacation. You haven't come home since last summer and that was only for what? Two weeks? Why can't you spare a few days from your  _ busy schedule _ -" Here, she rolled her eyes around Alex's still apartment. "And get your ass back to Jody. She misses you." 

Alex jerked her shoulders in a tense shrug. "I'd rather stay here."

"Why?" Some of that righteous anger fell away from Claire's face then. She looked almost vulnerable, eyes wide, mouth drawn into a soft frown. "Is it the hunting?"

Alex huffed a sharp laugh. Her chest ached with unshed tears and the tension of being cornered. After a moment she nodded one sharp affirmation. She didn't trust herself to speak. 

Claire let out a noise of frustration. "You really can't stand to be around hunting at all? My god, Alex, you'd think after-" She fell silent and her eyes dropped. Finally she looked up again. "You know Jody needs you. She  _ needs _ you, Alex. Just come home for Christmas, okay? And we’ll go from there."

Alex willed herself to be stone. Carefully, she breathed until the tightness in her chest began to loosen. "I don't expect you to understand," she said finally.

"I want to," Claire said. "Because where I'm standing I just - I don't get it. You and Jody were tight.  _ Tight. _ Did something happen? Is there something you guys just aren't telling me about?"

The room fell silent before Alex finally said, "You better get some sleep if you're driving all day tomorrow." She turned and walked quickly down the hallway, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. She went into her room and gently closed the door. She took a few deep, shuddering breaths, then crawled into bed. Claire’s words clawed into her chest.  _ Jody needs me? _ More like she needed Jody. Jody had been - and promised to always be - a warm anchor for Alex’s tumultuous life. When she was younger she had clung to Jody’s offer of home. She’d needed it like air. 

But after the vampires tracked her to Sioux Falls and snapped apart her life piece by piece she realized she’d never be free. She was the storm in Jody’s - and now Claire’s - lives and it would follow her wherever she went. She would fight for her life until the last drop of blood fell from her body but she wouldn't drag anyone else into it. Not anymore. Now that she was independent she could make the choice to keep the people she loved safe. Let the vampires come, she’d be ready. Just please let them stay away from Jody and Claire. She stared at dim rectangles cast on her wall by the streetlights outside and let the tears burn down her cheeks. 

_ Alex woke to a hand pressed over her mouth. She started away, scrambling to the far side of the bed as her eyes adjusted to the darkened room. Claire's face resolved in the darkness and she shushed Alex sharply.  _

_ "Need you to wake up," she hissed.  _

_ "What's going on?"  _

_ "Shifter. A second one. It tracked me here." She leaned in and removed her hand. "Alex, it's wearing my face. We need to get out of here." _

_ Alex nodded and sat up immediately, pushing off the covers. She quickly threw her legs over the side of the bed, shoving her feet into sneakers she left next to it for just such an emergency. She reached in the space between the mattress and the headboard and pulled out a machete. It gleamed white in the moonlight.  _

_ "I'm ready," she said. Claire nodded and stood, turning towards the door. "Claire, wait." Alex grabbed onto Claire's wrist with her right hand. Claire yelped and sprang away as Alex's ring burned into her skin. For a moment, Alex and the shifter impersonating Claire just stared at each other. Then Alex took off running for the door, machete clutched in her fist. She made it through her door first, feet skidding a little on the worn wooden floor of the hallway. Her shoulder ricocheted off the wall. She pushed herself off and ran towards the living room where Claire should have been sleeping. She should shout for Claire - see if she was still alive and not care about waking the neighbors. But she knew Claire wouldn't respond. If Claire was alive - she'd be silent, hunting. Fingers grasped the back of her sleep shirt, twisting into the fabric and drawing Alex up short. She choked a little as the collar dug into her neck.  _

_ "Thought you could run," she heard not-Claire chuckle into her ear. Her hand slid down Alex's arm and curled around the machete. The shifter wrenched it away and Alex gasped in pain and fear. Her breath hitched as she felt the tip of the blade against her neck… _

Alex woke with a sharp gasp and floundered for a moment in bed, trying to escape the covers and the blade against her throat that -  _ wait _ . Her eyes adjusted to the dark room and she saw she was still in her bed. 

Shaking, Alex peeled back the covers tangled around her legs, then grabbed the machete she kept between her mattress and headboard. She slipped on her shoes, opened her bedroom door, and carefully walked down the dark hallway toward the living room and Claire. She knew the creaks and groans of the apartment by now and her approach was nearly silent. Still, Claire greeted her with a sleepy, "Hey," when she entered the living room. 

Alex darted a quick look around the room before lowering the machete. "Sorry," she whispered, her breathing still uneven. "Didn't mean to wake you."

Claire's expression was unreadable as she looked at the blade in Alex’s hand. "What's up?" 

"Uh." Alex set the machete on the bookshelf, wiping her palm on her pants. "Nothing. Bad dream."

"Not nothing." Claire threw back the blanket and stood up. "Since when do you carry a blade around?"

Alex laughed. "Well, I don't carry it around in public. But I'm not an idiot. I've got weapons all over this apartment."

Claire sputtered and then laughed. "Are you serious?"

Alex’s fingers still shook with half-spent adrenaline but she managed to arch an eyebrow and ticked off her fingers. "Under the couch. Top of the bookshelf. Kitchen cabinet. Bathroom cabinet..."

"Holy shit." Claire walked over to Alex. She lifted her hand, hesitated, then curled it around her arm. "I'm proud of you."

"Yeah, well, just because I'm not a hunter doesn't mean I'm stupid. I need to be ready when they - if anything comes for me."

“Hmm.” Claire nodded and her fingers tightened before she pulled away. "You buy all those weapons at the machete store?"

Alex’s laugh bubbled out, unexpected. "They were having a clearance," she said drily. "Uh, do you mind if I just check..." she held out her hand and captured Claire's wrist in her own. The ring touched Claire’s skin without effect and she relaxed. She shrugged as Claire raised her eyebrows. "Had to check."

"You did." Claire rubbed her neck. "Well, I’m awake. Wanna watch some TV?" she asked. 

Alex nodded, grateful at the change of subject. They settled in front of the TV and let the soft blue light illuminate the room while outside snow fell in great, fat flakes against the windowpane.

Alex woke up with a crick in her neck, curled up on one end of the couch. The TV was off and weak sunlight painted the room in soft roses and gray. She pushed herself upright and looked around blearily. Claire was gone. She hung her head, scratched her nails through her hair, and sighed. Claire said she was going to leave early. She must have crept out while Alex slept. She groaned. 

"That bad, huh?" Claire said from behind her.

Alex jumped and twisted around. "You're still here?" 

Claire settled in Alex’s wooden desk chair. She kicked her feet up onto the windowsill and tipped the chair back on two legs. She laughed. "Uh, yeah. Take a look outside."

Alex went to the window that overlooked the street. The road was just a featureless trench running between the houses, buried under a blanket of fresh snow. Claire's car was a formless white mound in front of the house. “Holy shit.”

"Yeah. Mind if I stay another day? Doesn't look like we're gonna get dug out any time soon. The news is saying plows won’t get to these side streets for a while.” Claire hesitated and bit her lip uncertainly. ”I mean, I don’t have to stay. I could find a hotel?"

“Don’t be stupid.” Alex cringed at her sharp tone. “Sorry. I didn't realize it had snowed that much. I thought the worst of it was supposed to miss us."

"Looks like it changed its mind overnight."

"No kidding." Alex pressed her forehead against the cool window, craning her head to look as far along the street as possible. It was still early, barely past sunrise. "You'll be stuck here for a while." She turned to face Claire, who would not quite meet her gaze. She frowned, regretting the confrontation of the night before. "I guess we'll just hang out."

"Guess so."

The morning passed quietly. They ate breakfast, watching storm updates on the TV. Claire called Jody, putting her on speakerphone to tell her about the storm. "We're okay, Jody. Got power, got food. Got the internet. Don't worry about us."

"The roads should be clear by tonight, Jody," Alex interjected.

"Okay, girls," she said. “Take care of yourselves. I love you."

"Love you too, Jody," Claire said before hanging up.

Alex put on a movie and Claire watched for a while as she cleaned weapons on the coffee table. When everything was polished and laid back in place in the her duffel, she sat up. "Do you have a pair of scissors?" she asked. 

Alex went to the little desk by the window, pulled open a drawer, and took out a pair of scissors. She dangled them from her finger with one eyebrow raised. "Hope you're not planning to clean your gun with these."

"Tempting. But I have a better idea," Claire said. She snatched the scissors from her hand, and took out a few sheets of white paper from the cheap printer Alex kept on the floor under her desk. She sat on the couch and carefully folded one sheet several times before making small cuts in the paper. 

Alex watched her in disbelief. "Oh my god. Is Claire Novak making a snowflake? Is it the end times?"

Claire smugly unfolded the paper, revealing something that almost resembled a snowflake, except it held the square shape of the paper a little too well. She grimaced. "Trying." She set the paper down and began to fold the next sheet. "I haven’t done this since I was eight. If you're gonna stay here for Christmas, at least make your apartment a little less depressing." She rolled her eyes at Alex who still looked at her with something like shock. "Tccch, come on. Like you've never done this."

They made enough snowflakes to cover the front window and as they were taping them up, Claire remarked on the weather. "Storm's gone," she said. And indeed, the gray pall of clouds was gone as though it had never been there. The emergent sun made the view out the window a little blinding. "I'm hungry," said Claire. "And the stuff in your kitchen sucks. We should go out. See if anything's open."

Alex’s stomach gave a wobbly rumble that spoke louder than any reply she could have made. They bundled up and waded three blocks through knee deep snow before arriving at the first shoveled sidewalk of the morning. Second Street was not far beyond, and not entirely dead when the two women reached it. Two coffee shops were open and doing booming business with the post blizzard crowd. They grabbed coffee and settled into a corner of the shop to eat breakfast. White Christmas lights looped around the shop, turning the warm wooden walls golden and spilling little spots of light onto the surface of their table.

On any ordinary day the shop would be full of college students hunched sullenly over laptops. Today it felt vibrant with a festival air. The place rang with laughter and outside in the street a snowball fight erupted. Claire smiled over her mug at the scene. “This is nice. I guess I see why you like it here.”

Alex shrugged but couldn’t keep a pleased smile from blooming. “Yeah. It is nice. Usually not this, uh…” A snowball thunked against the window. “Lively? Not this early anyway.”

The barista called out Claire’s name. She walked up to the counter and returned with something that looked like a mini pie, a fountain of steam issuing from the top. 

Alex sniffed. “Oh my god, I never knew they had those here.” She looked down at her own cold muffin in disappointment. 

“Good things come to those who wait, my friend,” Claire laughed and began to dig into the pie. Syrupy blueberry spilled out of the broken crust. 

Alex picked at her muffin. “My grandma used to say that. Like, all the time.”

Claire looked at her, suddenly wary. Discussions of past loved ones and the myriad ways they’d hurt or been hurt were rare - and for good reason. “Good things come?”

Alex nodded. “So cliché, I know. But she honestly believed it. And I guess I did, too. For a while anyway.” Until she joined Momma’s family and her life filled with gore and love strongly laced with debilitating guilt. She took a sip of her coffee. “I don’t think that’s true, though.”

Claire quietly ate her pie, twirling blueberries around the outer crust. “You don’t think good things can happen?”

“I don’t think waiting is the answer. Waiting just means the bad stuff keeps happening.”

“I can’t disagree with you. But I...” 

Alex looked up as Claire shoved an enormous forkful of food into her mouth. Claire chewed for a while, then shrugged. Alex read it for what it was: a dismissal of the conversation. They were both experts at avoidance. 

They took their time with their coffee as the storefronts along Second Street woke up. A snowplow trundled past, scraping a wash of snow onto the curb. “So, taking off tomorrow morning? Or are you heading out as soon as the roads are clear tonight?” Alex asked.

Claire pursed her lips and looked at Alex for a moment before answering, “I guess it depends on if your street is plowed yet. I could stick around a little longer. I don’t really feel like driving through the night, anyway.”

Alex smiled and something settled warmly in her chest. “Sensible.” She set down her empty coffee mug and twirled it on the table a few times. Finally, she stood and picked up the mug. “Well, I guess we’ll get going then?”

“Guess so,” said Claire and followed her to the dish bin and then out the door. 

Alex’s street still wasn’t plowed and Claire, rather than looking disgruntled at having to wait until the next morning to leave, had a slight smile on her face as she kicked through the snow. “You know, I’m a little more used to Sioux Falls winter at this point to feel that excited about snow. But there’s something really cute about everyone here.”

Alex laughed. “Cute, huh?”

“Yeah, like everyone’s acting like kids again.” She pointed to a cadre of Alex’s neighbors who were busy building a snowman, or trying anyway. The snow which had started out light and fluffy in the morning was gradually turning icy as the sun warmed the town. The snowman resembled less a snow sculpture and more a few incoherent snow chunks on the ground. 

"They’re cute,” Claire said suggestively and nodded at the snowman-assemblers as they walked past. She stopped and turned around. ”Hey, want some help?" 

“Oh my god, Claire,” Alex whipped her hand around Claire's elbow and tried to tug her away. 

Claire laughed and pulled her arm out of Alex’s grasp. She approached the group of four men who had paused in their snowman attempt to smile at the two women. She tipped her hat back a little and pointed at the snow with her mitten. “You know that’s the wrong kind of snow for a snowman, right?”

“I like a challenge,” one of them said. He looked over Claire’s head and smiled at Alex, who immediately flushed. “Hey, aren’t you our neighbor?”

Well, there was no point in trying to walk away now, not with Claire already crouched down to scrape crumbly snow onto a flat section of the snow-torso. She shrugged internally. In a world full of people she divided into “dicks” and “not-dicks”, these neighbors did seem to fall into the latter category. “Yeah, I am.” Alex allowed herself to be dragged into snowman making, which snowballed into an honest to god slushball fight right in the middle of the street. 

Afterwards they all went out for sandwiches and Alex found herself back on Second Street, talking to new people and laughing for the first time in months. She felt something in her unfurl and prodded it at in wonder. It felt a little bit like joy. 

They got home at dusk. Alex peeled off her coat and dumped it over a chair, then toed off her wet boots. "Okay, I had fun," she said as though admitting a dark secret. 

Claire smirked as she pulled off her own winter gear. "Yeah, you did." 

Alex hesitated, dropping her wet mittens on the shoe rack. "So, what's up with that?"

"What?"

"All that...happy-holiday-fun-Claire today?"

Claire strolled over to the couch, avoiding her gaze and said, "I don't know what you mean."

"Bullshit. You hate people, Claire. What's up with the cheerleader routine?"

Claire sighed. "Maybe I thought you needed a little cheer in your life. Listen, I am the first person to try and shove somebody away. I could probably write a freaking book on it. But I - you and Jody - you're family in a way I haven't had in years. And Jody would never ever say anything but it's tearing her apart to have you out here on your own."

"It's just for college. You make it sound like I'm gone forever." 

"Aren't you? Isn't that what you're trying to do?"

Alex looked away. 

"What you said before. About  _ when _ the vampires find you? Alex, I know what you’re doing.”

“Oh, do you now?” Her voice wobbled and she willed iron into her core.

“You can fool most people, maybe. But you can’t fool me. This is like, Novak 101. At first I thought you left because you wanted to get away from the hunting. From me and Jody.” Claire’s voice began to rise. ”But you’re trying to protect us, aren’t you? You’re pulling away. You’re trying to keep us safe. But, it isn't your job to keep me safe or Jody safe.”

Alex looked at Claire feeling like the truth was written across her face. It probably was. She nodded slowly.

“Yeah, well, you're being selfish. You know how I found that shapeshifter job? I was looking for weird stuff near you. Keeping watch because I wasn't sure you would.”

“I didn’t- I never asked for that.”

”So? I care about you. I've never had a sister but I swear this is what it's gotta feel like. You have people that care about you. That have your back no matter what. I just need you to remember that."

Alex's throat burned as she fought tears. God, she was so sick of crying. "Even if it gets you killed?" she asked in a tight voice. 

Claire stared at her from the couch for a full minute then stood and stalked towards Alex, pulling her into a rough hug. After a beat, Alex wrapped her arms around Claire. “If I die,” Claire mumbled against her shoulder, “it’ll be nobody’s fault but my own.” She pulled back, her eyes suspiciously bright as she shoved her hands into her pockets. “And you’ll need to be around to convince Jody of that.” 

Alex nodded slowly but words evaded her. 

“I’m gonna take off early tomorrow. At least I’ll be able to do Christmas Eve and Christmas at Jody’s. Just...think about coming, okay?”

“I’ll think about it.” Alex cleared her throat and stepped backward. "Gonna make popcorn for dinner," she said. "Cool?"

Claire's expression cleared to neutral and she went back to the couch and hid her face behind her phone. "Cool," she said. 

That night Alex lay awake for hours and stared at the ceiling, thinking. Living on her own - detaching - had seemed to sensible. When she left for college she’d felt like she was running towards something good, making a change that would protect the people she loved and give her a fresh start. Now the distance she’d let increase between herself and Jody felt sour. Her life here had become an endless gray squall, centered squarely around her self-imposed exile. Today she’d let a little sunlight in and, God help her, she craved it. She lay in bed, legs drawn up beneath the covers, and tried to sort out her life until the heaviness of sleep wiped everything from her mind. 

The next morning Alex woke to the sound of the front door closing. She sprang out of bed, shoes forgotten, and threw open the front door. "Claire," she called as snow swirled over the stoop and onto her toes.

Claire, her bag slung over her shoulder, turned. "Yeah?"

Alex scratched at her sleep rumpled hair. She’d come to a realization last night and this morning it still stuck true. It was time to stop waiting for her life to get easier because that day might never come. She needed to run towards the good things she already had. "Don't, uh. Don't go without me okay? I just need to pack."

Claire smiled and tucked her chin as though trying to hide it. "Leave me with all the shoveling?"

"I’ll buy you donuts."

"With Christmas sprinkles," said Claire with mock severity and she turned towards her snow-covered car with a smile still on her face. "Twenty minutes, that's all I'm giving you. Get moving, Snowflake."

“Oh my god, Claire.” Alex scowled but her heart felt suddenly light as she went back inside to change and throw together a hasty travel bag. Whatever direction the next year took, a warm Christmas with Jody and Claire seemed like a good way to begin. An hour later they were on the road, squabbling over music and shedding sprinkles all over the car as they made their way through the snowy, sunlit countryside back home.

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> In which the author's illustrations have nothing to do with anything, but the author careth not. And, lo, snowmonsters were doodled.
> 
> Come chat with me on [Tumblr](http://whichstiel.tumblr.com/) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/whichstiel)!


End file.
